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North Sails 'Sail Trim Simulator' Will Go On Show at the ICRA Nationals in Galway

North Sails Sail Trim Simulator: In both screens, the J/35 is sailing at a little over 12 knots. In the upper right-hand corner, you have adjustments for wind speed and sea-state

A North Sails Ireland 'Sail Trim simulator' will be used during post race de–briefings at the ICRA Nationals this August in Galway. The new tool helps to 'make sense of sail trim, fundamentals of sail shape, and understand how these variables impact performance', according to Nigel Young of North Sails in Cork Harbour.

North Sails Designer Max Tringale, based out of Portsmouth, Rhode Island, USA is working on the exciting new project that will help to better educate sailors on sail trim. Max has a very defined background in boat building, marine systems engineering, and yacht design. Along with the North Sails design team, Max is building an easy-to-use application called Sail Trim Simulator.

The North U. Sail Trim Simulator is being developed to help clients visualise how sails and rig interact together and how that relationship is manipulated by the different sail controls to achieve desired sail shapes. “We currently have two sail models, the TP52 and J/35, loaded into the simulator,” explained Tringale.

The Sail Trim Simulator is particularly suited for one design sailing, where it can be used as part of North Sails tuning guide to further explain rig set up and tuning. When supplied with various rig settings and tensions, the tool provides a visual aid to show why North recommends particular settings. The app provides targets for rig adjustments and trim settings before even getting on the water.

User optionality for viewing angles to see the slot of the genoa and mainsail and what the leech looks like from the top down view, showing flatness of the sail when the trim is applied.

“We’re looking at seven different control factors; mainsheet, backstay, traveler, cunningham, jib sheet, jib lead, and jib luff tension,” explained Tringale. “For each one of those controls, we are developing optimum sail shapes. We identify the optimum for each control point, understand how it is correlated with the other points, and then define optimum sail shapes for each wind speed. Other controls like rig tension and mast rake are left standard at this time to simplify the tool.”

When the user opens the application they will notice that each control point has a working range. For example, if you want to pull on more backstay tension, you can adjust in millimeter increments and watch as the output numbers change. The app has a function called the Magic Wand, allowing the user to set a desired TWS [true wind speed] and having the app find the optimum upwind boat trim for that wind speed. Also shown is the VMG [velocity made good] and TWA [true wind angle] the boat is sailing at, showing optimum sail trim.

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